On 10 December 2019, EMN Belgium organises its annual asylum and migration policy event in which recent national and EU developments in the field of international protection, legal migration and integration and irregular migration and return will be discussed.

_{The conference 'From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0: Towards a new programme (2020-2024) for EU migration and asylum policies 20 years after the Tampere conclusions?' was held in Helsinki on the 24th and the 25th of October.}

On 22 October 2019, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) published the results of the survey conducted in the spring of 2019. The results show that especially the search for housing for beneficiaries of international protection is very problematic. The regulations state that, in principle, they must leave the Local Reception Initiative (LOI) within two months. As in the VVSG survey of 2017, half of the respondents do not consider this period to be feasible. For almost 1 in 5, finding housing within this timeframe very exceptionally the case, and only thanks to the possibility to extend the stay in the LOI twice by 1 month.

 

On May 27, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, European Commission and European Migration Network organise the International Conference “A New European Agenda on Migration?”. During this event, experts will share their views on the achievements, challenges and perspectives of integration and migration policies in Europe.

CRIPEL and CEDEM Ulg organize a study afternoon to present the key elements of the reform and address other questions including integration, access to social rights and work market.

At the occasion of this Itinera event, various experts, including Dirk Jacobs (ULB) and Jasper Dag Tjaden (Migration Policy Group), gave their vision from both a Belgian and European perspective on "Education & Integration".

Today, the law from 4 December 2012 modifying the Belgian Nationality Code with a view to making the aquisition of nationality neutral from an immigration point of view, was published.

During this discussion on the integration of newcomers in Wallonie, three projects will be examined more closely, namely the CIRÉ desk for newcomers in Ixelles, the regional integration centre in Charleroi and Couleur Cafe in Malmedy.

A press release of the national bank of Belgium indicates that the employment rate of persons born in a non-EU country is the lowest of all Member States, namely 45.8 % in 2011.

Today, thanks to the Charles Ullens Price, the President of the King Baudouin Foundation, Ms Françoise Tulkens, rewarded the work of six young researchers on various challenges related to migration and integration.

This conference will close the ARCKA project « Assessing, recognizing competences and certifying knowledge acquisition valuing human capital of children of foreign origin in education and training in Europe » that is cofinanced by the European Commission.

The Symposium provides a platform for key stakeholders to disseminate knowledge on the most sustainable and successful integration strategies, which involve both migrants and the host societies at a multi-sector level.

At the occacion of the presentation of the Belgian results of the Immigrant Citizens Survey in a European context, the King Baudouin Foundation organises a Conference in Brussels where professionals and policy-makers can share opinions and findings.